Author's note

Thank you to everyone who has read my first couple chapters to my story. Hopefully I'll be able to post the upcoming chapters quickly so that you can all read it. Enjoy the story, and let me know what you think.

-scribblesofdreams

Vera and Rush drove to the north part of Croydon to a music store, Electric Music. The windows of the store were lined with album covers from the 1940's to the 2000's from the inside. It covered swing, jazz, Motown, rock, disco, pop, rap, hip hop, alternative, and every other genre in between.

Vera looked up and scanned the album covers, standing a few feet from the window. He recognized several albums he once owned and smiled. "Looks like the warehouse of music or somethin'," said.

Rush opened the door, with Vera close behind. The store had rows of CD's lining the floor, with shelves covering the walls with more music. Magazine stands were displayed near the entrance, attracting a small group of teenagers skimming through Guitar Magazine. Vera noticed a small table with trays of cassette tapes off to the side of the cash register. At the back of the store, there was a section of vinyl records, one of the largest collections Vera had seen in years.

Rush nudged Vera's arm and nodded toward the tall blond talking to a young boy near the classic rock section. "There's Walker."

Rush and Vera walked up behind the young boy. Rush overheard Andy describing the song "Baba O'Riley" from The Who's Who's Next album.

"Andy Walker," Rush interrupted, causing the young boy to turn around and look at her. She took out her badge and flipped it open. "Philly P.D. Can we talk to you for a moment?"

Andy looked at Rush, then to Vera. "I think you'll really like this album," he told the boy, looking back down to him.

The young boy nodded and took the CD from Andy's hand. "Thanks, I think I'll get it," he announced, then walked towards the cash register.

Andy watched the boy walk away and smiled. "I love that younger kids are listening to some classic music," he said, chuckling to himself.

Vera looked at Rush then turned to Andy. "I'm Detective Vera, this is Detective Rush. We'd like to talk to you about Grace Serano."

The expression on Andy's face changed at the sound of her name. His bright and glowing face turned into one of pain and hurt. His smile faded slowly as he began to nod his head. "All right." He called to the girl standing behind the cash register to take over the store, then led the two detectives to a room in the back of the store.

In the middle of the room was a table with a few magazines sprawled out across the top. Andy gathered the magazines into a stack and gestured to the chairs. "Please, have a seat," he told them.

Rush and Vera pulled the chairs out and sat down across from Andy. Looking up, Rush watched Andy sit in his chair, letting out a deep breath.

"We understand that you were friends with Grace Serano," Vera said, opening his small notebook. "The only friend she made at East Creek High School."

Andy nodded solemnly. "The kids at school all made fun of her because she was different. It was some kind of sin to go against the crowd in those days."

"But not you," Rush looked at Andy, shaking her head. "You didn't make fun of her. You were actually nice to her."

"It didn't take much to be nice to Grace," he explained. "Everyone was just afraid of her, so they teased her, as if something was wrong with her. But nothing was wrong."

Rush jerked her body forward and leaned against the table, clasping her hands together. "You two hang out a lot?" she asked, looking through her bangs at Andy.

He nodded. "Yeah, we did. Not at first though. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to hang out with her or not."

"Because she was weird," Vera said, staring at Andy. "So you were trying to decide whether or not you wanted to call her to go get some lunch, or call her a freak."

"No." Andy turned his head toward Vera in one sharp movement. "No, I never called her names. Never," he protested. His eyes were soft, with pure sincerity in them. "But I used to hang out with the kids that did. That didn't last too long though. Grace made me realize a lot about myself and the person I wanted to be."

"So, she showed you your true colors, so to speak?" Vera asked, grinning at his clever 80's music reference.

Andy picked up on the Cyndi Lauper reference and smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He laughed softly, then looked up to the detectives. "Grace was the only person I knew that was truly herself. She taught me a lot."

(Music: "What I Like About You" - The Clash)

Grace and Andy walked along an empty street in north Croydon. With the sun shinning bright that day, it reflected off of Grace's large, metal earrings. That day she wore a flared skirt that occasionally blew whenever there was a gust of wind.

Grace was laughing at the joke Andy had just made about the physics teacher at school. She was hunched over, grabbing her stomach as her laugh echoed down the street.

"Okay, okay," Andy said, calming his laughter down. He took in a deep breath and turned to Grace."So where exactly are we going?"

Grace wiped the tears from her eyes. She was replaying the joke in her mind as they continued to walk down the street, but eventually pulled herself together. "I found this cool music store that I think you should check out," she told him. "I'm not sure if you'd listen to the music, but if you don't, you totally should."

Andy nodded his head and stuck his hands into his jeans pockets. "Cool."

Grace walked lightly in her dark purple, two inch heels. She had just started wearing heels a few months back, but quickly got the hang of the technique to strutting in those shoes. Andy shuffled along after Grace in his one year old pair of Nike's he got for his last birthday. After passing a few shops, Grace stopped abruptly on the sidewalk. Her entire body came to a halt unexpectedly.

"Geez," Andy said, laughing. He almost ran into Grace but caught himself before the impact would have occurred. "Next time put your brake lights on," he joked.

"Here we are," Grace said, smiling up at the sign at the top of the store. She lifted her hand and pointed to the top of the building. "Check it out."

Andy followed with his eyes and gazed across the store sign. "Electric Music," he read aloud. "Nice name."

Grace smiled. "Wait until you see what's inside." She nodded her head toward the door. "Come on." She walked into the store, with Andy following her.

The door closed loudly, rattling the sign hanging on the door that read the store hours. The store was small but cozy. There were several rows of vinyl records placed in the middle of the room. Each section was labeled with a sign that was placed at the beginning of the section. Posters of bands and artists were covering the walls, with barely any free space to be seen.

Several teenagers stood in between the aisles perusing the albums. Two had Mohawks, one pink and the other green. They both wore the same leather jacket, with a large skull on the back. A boy that looked about fourteen held a Poison album in his hand. A group of kids were huddled near the Queen albums, several of them singing the lines to "I Want It All."

"Pretty awesome, huh?" Grace asked, walking further into the store. A smile made itself temporarily permanent as she began shifting through the albums.

Andy looked around the store, amazed. He had never been in such a place before. There was no order to it and it seemed so free. At the time, there was something he liked about it but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Walking over to Grace, he saw her holding a record in her hand. "What ya got there?" he asked. Andy leaned against a crate of albums, his arm resting on the top of the crate.

"Check it out," she said happily. "Van Halen." She showed Andy the record. "Ever listened to them before?" she asked.

Andy thought for a moment and shrugged his shoulders. "Probably once or twice on the radio. I doubt I even knew it was them. I don't really listen to their music," he told her.

Grace gasped, giving Andy her offended look. Luckily, her face quickly changed back and she was smiling again."There's a song on this album, 'Right Now'. It's one of my favorites." Andy took the album from her hand and looked over the album cover. "The chorus goes, 'Right now, it's your tomorrow. Right now, come on, it's your everything. Right now, catch your magic moment. Do it right here and now, it means everything.'. It talks about living in the moment and doing your own thing."

Andy smiled, nodding his head as he listened to Grace recite the lyrics. "I like that message," he said, looking up at Grace. "It makes a lot of sense."

Grace nodded. "Sure does," she smiled, then sauntered off to look at more records.

(Music: "Two Steps Behind" - Def Leppard)

After Grace bought a Styx album, she and Andy left Electric Music and walked down the street in the same direction they came from. Grace wore a smile on her face, satisfied with the new album she just bought. Andy smiled, because seeing how happy Grace was made him feel the same way.

"So you listen to all of that music?" he asked her. Grace had browsed every inch of the music store, finding album after album that she was interested in.

She nodded. "Yep, sure do. I love that music. But I also listen to stuff other than rock. Rock's just my favorite. I listen to new wave, some disco, oldies, a bunch of everything," she explained.

"You like all of that music?" Andy looked over at Grace, surprised that she listened to so many different types of music. "I mean, all of it?"

"Yeah, why not?" she asked him, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, there isn't some kind of rule that says I'm only allowed to like a certain kind of music, and other things related to that. I can like as many things as I want, so I do."

"Okay, I guess I see where you're coming from," he agreed. "You know you make a lot of sense, Grace Serano. You should teach."

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Nah, teaching seems way too intense for me."

"Oh, come on," he said, "you'd be great. You really connect with people. I'm sure you could get into those kid's heads and figure them out. You could find out what they really want out of school and really educate them," Andy told her.

Grace looked over at Andy, completely skeptical. "Really? And what subject would I teach?"

Andy stroked his chin, contemplating the perfect subject that she could teach. A grin formed on his face as he turned to Grace. "I think you could definitely start a fashion designing class," he teased.

"Here we go," Grace rolled her eyes, throwing up her hands.

He laughed. "I mean, you've definitely got your own style going on," he gestured to her ensemble. "You're creativity is definitely solid."

Grace twirled around, her skirt puffing up as she spun. "I definitely do have my own style," she agreed. "But it's not exactly the norm around here."

Andy pressed his lips together, nodding. "Yeah, I guess. But that's only because there isn't anyone else as cool as you are," he smiled.

As they crossed the street, a group of preteens passed them, staring blatantly at Grace and the clothes that she was wearing. Two girls were laughing, covering their mouths so that no sound would get out. Two boys that dressed a lot like Andy were staring, stretching their necks to turn back around even as they passed Grace. The last boy, however, didn't even want to get a glimpse of the catastrophe of rebellion that was Grace.

The reactions of the kids on the street didn't seem to phase Grace that much. She glanced over when she saw their stares, but quickly focused her eyes on the street ahead of her, dismissing their behavior. Andy on the other hand couldn't have been more appalled by the way the teens acted toward Grace. As the five kids passed he felt his face heat up, his eyes narrowing in on them. Grace wasn't a circus attraction. She was a regular teenager like anyone else. Andy just didn't understand why he was the only one that could see this.

"Unbelievable," Andy muttered, gritting his teeth.

Grace looked up at him and saw how tense his face was. "Hey. Don't even worry about it. I'm not," she told him.

"Yeah, but you don't deserve to be stared at that way," he said. "You don't." His voice was strong, slightly louder than it usually was.

She shrugged her shoulder, breathing in deep. "They're kids. Hell, we're kids," she joked. "No one knows any better at our age. Most teenagers are just looking for their place in this world and where they fit in, and with who."

"But not you."

Grace glanced down the street. There were people walking about, hushed conversations in the distance, cars zipping down the road. The air was fresh and the sky was a soothing shade of blue. She took in another deep breath. "You know what the one thing is that teenagers want more than anything?" she asked him. Andy shook his head, waiting for her to answer. Grace looked up at Andy. "Acceptance."

Andy looked out at the road in front of him, repeating the word "acceptance" in his head several times.

"Wanting to be accepted by your classmates overtakes so many kids. Some people need to feel like they fit in with the popular kids and they'd do anything for it. Change the way they dress, shop at the right stores, only watch certain movies," Grace explained, "talk a certain way. That's just how kids are. I mean, yeah, okay, if you really do like those things and want to dress that way, then that's rad. But if you're only doing it to fit in...then I really don't see a point in it."

Andy listened to every single word Grace said. He understood what she meant and it made complete sense to him. He smiled, looking down at Grace. "Man, I sure do admire you," he told her. "You can do anything you want and like all kinds of things. And you don't care what anyone else thinks."

Grace nudged Andy's arm, making him stumble as he walked. "And so can you!"

Catching his step, Andy laughed. "No, it's not as easy as you think it is." He felt his smile fade as he stared at the pavement. He thought of his friends and the standards and expectations they had for him.

She noticed the change in Andy's posture and looked over at him. "Hey," she began, trying to get him to look at her. "Hey." Grace stopped walking, making Andy turn to her. "You know it doesn't matter to me, you know? I mean, I like you the way you are. You don't have to change. You just have to do what you feel you wanna do."

Suddenly, a sly grin appeared on Andy's face. He looked at Grace. "Wait, did you just say that you like me?"

Grace stared up at Andy, pondering what her response should be. She knew what Andy was waiting to hear, the look on his face showed it. He was curious, and hopeful at the same time. Deciding that enough time had passed, Grace gave Andy her answer.

She simply gave him a smile and a wink of her eye. Breaking into a quiet laughter, Grace began walking down the street, leaving Andy behind with the image of her smiling face in his mind.

Smiling, Andy pictured Grace's face that day after they left the music store. She was being playful, and very honest, like she always was.

"So Grace liked you?" Vera asked. Rush looked over at him as if the answer to that question was very obvious. Vera looked back at Rush and shrugged his shoulders, figuring it was still worth asking Andy.

Andy laughed lightly. "Yes, she did. And I liked her too," he admitted. "Whenever we spoke she always was truthful about everything she said. She made sense to me. The next day I went back to the music store and bought that Van Halen album," he beamed.

Rush smiled. "Yeah, and then you came back and bought the whole store," she said, gesturing to the room around her.

"Yeah, I did," Andy nodded. "I've owned this place for about ten years. It's been real good to me," he told them, glancing around the room. "I went home and listened to that record," he said, continuing the previous story. "Grace was right, I loved that song. I loved it so much that a few years ago I started my own record company, Right Now Records," he smiled. "But then Shelly stopped by that same day I first listened to the album. And she shared her opinion about what she thought of it." Andy shook his head, with an annoyed expression.

"Shelly?" Vera repeated. He checked his notes, then shook his head. He didn't have a Shelly written down.

"Yeah, Shelly Linderman," Andy said, watching Vera scribble down the name in his notebook. "She was the Queen Bee at school. She always thought we were dating, too. But I was never interested in her. And when Grace came to school she was even more pissed off."

Rush brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "She was mad at you for spending time with Grace?" she asked.

He sighed. "That, and the fact that she, along with the rest of my friends, felt like I changed. I wasn't hanging out with them that much, and they could tell my interests were changing."

"What did Shelly do when she found you listening to that Van Halen album?" Rush asked. "She must've been mad, since that wasn't the kind of thing that popular kids at school were listening to."

"No, it wasn't," Andy agreed. "She was confused, then she got mad. Shelly started yelling at me about how I was changing into a freak just like Grace. She was just jealous; that's what Shelly was known for."

Rush and Vera exchanged looks. Shelly sounded like she had the perfect motive. She was the most popular girl in school that was losing the boy she liked to the new girl. She was just another jealous high school girl. But was she jealous enough to kill Grace?